Lost in Slender Woods
by DarkFoxKirin
Summary: It's vacation time and Holloween is coming up soon. Tony wants to perk up everyone's Scare-O-Meters. He was planning on taking them to a haunted mansion in England, but he hears about an even better place; The Slender Woods. Join our favorite heros in taking on SLENDER MAN!
1. Chapter 1

"I know what you're thinking- No, no, no. DON'T-" Tony Stark yelled as he was blasted out of the sky by a huge Doombot. He was flung through the air and slammed into the side of a building, making it crumble ontop of him.

"Tony!" Steve shouted. He had to get to him. If anything happened to Tony- He never finished the thought as another Doombot punched him in the gut. Steve hunched over gasping. The robot was about to hit him again but an arrow suddenly lodged itself into the side of it's head, making it melt. The bot twitched one last time before it fell. Steve looked over to the top of a building a block away and saw Clint. He nodded his head in thanks and took off to the building that fell on Tony. "Tony? Tony!" Steve yelled as he searched through the debris.

"Ugh... take your time, take your time." Tony groaned from under a collapsed wall. He started to push it off of him, but Steve picked it up the rest of the way and flung it off to the side.

"Tony! Are you okay? Are you hurt?" Steve said franticly as he fluttered his hands around Tony's body.

"Obviously. To both." Tony said as he picked himself up. "We really need a vacation."

"Stark, report." Fury's voice barked through the comms.

"Well, all of the Doombot are dead, a building descided to fall for me, I mean, who wouldn't? I'm gorgeous."

"Stark, the rest?"

"All right, all right. Cap's with me, Big Guy's asleep in a little nest of rubble down 25th street, Black Widow and Hawkeye are headed this way."

"Good. I'll see you in Medical."

"Let's see, um no? I'll be in my tower if you don't need me."

"Stark-" Fury's disaproving voice was cut off as Tony cut the connection.

"Tony-" Steve started.

"Just don't okay? We've had a long day and I just want to go home, cuddle with you as I plan our vacation."

"Vacation? Wha-"

"Now, now do you want to keep on yamering out here in the cold, or do you want to cuddle?" Tony raised an eyebrow, knowing which one he'll choose.

"Just get yourself checked, and then we'll go home. Deal?" It was Steve's turn to raise an eyebrow.

Tony sighed in exasperation. "Fine. Fifteen minutes."

The next few moments were filled with the Avengers getting everything patched up, heading to S.H.E.I.L.D. and then finally going home.


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning, Tony rounded up all of the Avengers via JARVIS and settled them in the living room.

Tony stood in the middle of the room and clapped his hands together. "Alrighty! You are all wondering why I've brought you all here. It's-"

"Yeah, no. We know exactly why you've brought us here." Clint interrupted.

Steve spoke up as well. "You were whining all day yesterday about having a 'much needed vacation.' I just don't think we have the time."

Tony shook his head. "Thats just the point! We never have the time for anything! Soooooo, since halloween is coming up in a few days, I've booked us to spend a whole week in London for our vacation. We'll see all of the cool spooky attractions there, but most of all, they have this new haunted mansion there and Pepper says it's five stars."

Steve rubbed his face while letting out a long-suffering sigh. "Tony-"

"Wait... this actually sounds pretty cool." Clint interrupted once again. He loved visiting haunted houses and the like. It gave him an excuse to jump into Coulson's arms. Not that it worked all of the time...

Thor's voice boomed as he answered. "We have something similar to what you all call 'haunted houses' in Asgard. I shall attend!"

Natasha looked a little thoughtful. "I've always wanted to visit England without having to kill anyone." The others shared a look.

Tony started to send smug looks at Steve. And Steve was scowling back in return. Bruce and Coulson were the only ones who havn't said anything now. Tony looked at them expectantly. More so at Bruce. "Well? You guys comeing or what?"

Bruce sighed glanced at Coulson, who shrugged and looked away with a look that said, You know I can't leave my idiot alone. "Fine. But if this blows up in our faces, I'm blaming you." Everyone else nodded in agreement. Tony just looked hurt.

/

"Absolutely not." And with that said, Fury went back to reading over the files on his desk.

Coulson sighed and spread out his hands. "Look, if Tony doesn't get his way, well, you know what happens." That was a little wrong, but hey, Clint didn't know it (and never will) but he would do almost anything for him.

Fury looked back up and scowled. "And what about New York? Who will protect this city?" Even though he probably knew the answer.

"You know as much as I do, that Tony has already fixed this problem. The Fantastic Four will look after everything until we come back."

Fury stopped. "Wait a minute, 'we'? What do you mean 'we'?"

Coulson sighed again. "Again, you know I can't leave Clint unattended. You know how often he likes to stray from the group. I have to be there to look after the idiot."

Fury was silent for a moment. Then he sat back with a deep disapproving frown. "Alright. But if this blows up in your faces, I'm blaming Tony."

Coulson turned around to hide the small grin that appeared on his face. "Already decided sir."

/

Everyone was excited about the vacation. It only took an hour to get everything packed. It was around midafternoon when they boarded one of Tony's private jets. It was a peaceful flight until something happened. Everyone was making pleasant small talk, when Loki, looking burnt and still smoking with daggers lodged in him, landed right in the middle of the jet out of nowhere.

Thor surged up and out of his seat to aid his brother. "Brother! What happened!?" Loki never got to answer, because when he teleported inside of the jet, he let out a magical pulse as he landed, rendering the jet flightless. The engines had stopped working.

Steve grabbed Tony close to him as he yelled. "Hold on everyone! We're going down!" Thor grabbed ahold of Loki as everyone else held on to something.

The ground was surging up fast.


	3. Chapter 3

[Thanos' POV:]

After that meddlesome god had fled, Thanos was ready to initiate his last resort. He was weakened greatly by his encounter with that puny god. How dare he! Thanos had given him an army to get unlimited power, and how does he repay him?! Slinking back like a wounded dog, begging to be taken back, to be given another chance. But then to attack when his back was turned! Of course he intercepted him, and was slowly beating him until he had fled to his little entourage. He hadn't expected the pest to be able to weaken him so. That was why he was summoning his strongest assassin.

Thanos slumped even more as he lowers his hands from his summonings. A tall figure surrounded by shadows and mist was slowly straightening up from it's limp, puppet-like stance. It had on a black suit with a white shirt and a red tie. It's fingers and limbs were overly long and thin. It's bald, white head slowly rose to stare silently at it's summoner. Even though it's skin was white did not mean that it stood out like most white things did. It looked as if it was absorbing the light, making the air around it darker, thus even harder to see. Thanos pretended he didn't feel a shiver fear and excitement. It really was a beautiful specimen...

The figure opened it's mouth with what sounded like faint but loud whispers and bloodcurdling screaming sounding at the same time spilling from it.

Thanos nodded. "Yes, go kill that troublesome god and his little group. I trust that you will not fail."

Instead of answering, the frightening creature that shouldn't even exist, vanished with a faint beeping sound and static. Slenderman was coming...

/

[Tony's POV:]

Crickets.

Lots of those irritating buggers by the unending sound of it.

But not just that, Tony could hear trees whispering in the wind. His bones creaked as he started to sit up. It was a hard landing and he would have been worse off if it hadn't been for Cap wrapping his body around him right before they hit the ground.

He looked around, wondering where the hell they were. They were in a clearing in a forest, and there seemed to be a chain link fence behind him. There seemed to be a tree that was larger than the rest. It had no leaves and there seemed to be something like a piece of paper stuck to the trunk. It was twilight now, the sky was starry and dark with a bloody tinge to it. Geez, was it just him, or did Halloween make everything creepy as fuck?

Natasha seemed to be up already and was starting to walk toward a tree were Coulson was already climbing to reach something draped over it's branches. Heh... it was Clint. Thor was sitting against a tree with an unconscious Loki in his arms trying to wake him gently. That still blew his mind a bit. What happened to him? Why was he here? He'll figure it out later. Bruce was sitting crossed legged with his fingers pressed to his temples. His skin was a little green, but it was slowly receding. Steve was just now getting up about a foot away.

The jet was a ways away, wrapped around some broken trees. Guess flying back out of here wasn't an option. Walking sucked.

After everyone was accounted for and the immediate area was checked, they all stood in a tight circle glancing around uncertainly.

"Well," Tony started cheerfully, "we're fucked." Though his cheerfulness was so fake.

Everyone seemed to agree.


	4. Chapter 4

[Fury's POV:]

"Director Fury! We have a problem!" Agent Hill stated as she ran into the room.

Fury was just filing some papers when Hill had ran in. "What happened?"

Agent Hill stood infront of his desk. "It's the avengers sir. Stark's jet crash landed in an unknown area in London. Ms. Potts informs me that Stark's suit has been destroyed and the tracking device inside of Stark isn't acting right."

Fury pinched the bridge of his nose. The universe must hate him passionately. He must have disgraced someone in a previous life or something. Not that he'd ever say that out loud. "Get a group of S.H.E.I.L.D. agents out there and search for them. This had better not be some sort of prank." Hill nodded and left the room. Maybe he was a distasteful bear or something in a past life. Killing hikers and the like...

/

[Tony's POV:]

Fuck.

Shit.

Damn.

There where so many words for how bad this was.

After everyone decided to check the jet for any remaining supplies before heading out and trying to find a gate out (The fence was electric. In order for Tony to disable it, he would have to find the fuse box. Until then, they would have to find a gate out. Sadly the place seemed pretty big.) of this godforsaken place. When they got there and had started taking out water, food, and everyone's bags, (That they could find or that weren't destroyed in the crash.) Tony had found his suitcase. It was sliced in half from a cave in on the ceiling of the jet. It was totally worthless now. Hopefully JARVIS knew that the suit had been destroyed and was sending a new one with backup. That was only speculation that JARVIS could even feel the signal from the suit anymore though.

And that brings up the problem with all of the electronics. For some reason, whenever somebody turned on their phone or tablet, the screen started to fuzz. Electronic devices are now checked off of the list of ways for outside help. Guess they had to do this the traditional way. Check out the area on foot and try to find something to help them find a way out.

At least Steve was in his element. Sort of. "Alright, what the fuck is this?!" Clint exclaimed as he grabbed a piece of paper from that tree Tony saw. There was some scratchy writing on some notebook paper that said something that made everyone nervous.

**ALWAYS WATCHES**

**NO EYES**

There was a crude picture of a head with an 'X' for each eye between the two sentences. If you could call them that. Over all, this was creeping everybody out.

"What always watches and has no eyes?" Steve asked from beside Tony.

"How the fuck would I know?" Clint retorted.

"I don't know, you found it." Steve shrugged.

Tony sighed and dragged his hands through his hair. "Alright, alright already! Look, let's just keep it so that we can analyze it later, hm?"

Clint and Steve shared a look and shrugged.

Loki hadn't woken up yet and was draped over Thor's shoulder as Thor nodded. While Natasha and Coulson just stayed silent.

Nothing bad would happen if they kept a tiny piece of paper, right?

Oh how wrong they were.


	5. Chapter 5

Was it just Tony, or was there someone beating on a drum not too far from here?

After Clint had showed them the note, the drumming had started and hadn't stopped as of yet.

They had started walking along one of the paths leading away from where the first note was found. "We've been walking for about 15 minutes now and that drumming hasn't gotten quieter or stopped. What the hell?!" Tony shivered. This was getting creepier my the minute.

"Either whoever is drumming is following us... or there is no drummer." Everyone whipped their heads to look at Thor. Loki had woken up and was reclining in Thor's arms stiffly. He had tried to escape at first, but the pain was to harsh. So he had stopped and stayed. "There is only one entity that makes this noise after a note is found. If I had woken up sooner, I would have warned you not to touch that foul page in the first place! Now you may have sealed our fate!"

"Brother! Surly not-!" Thor looked like he was about to hurl. Loki only looked at him. "Damn."

Tony looked back and forth between the two brothers. "Okay, what the fuck? Who the hell are you two talking about? What entity? Has it been following us this whole time?!" He jumped and looked around. He didn't see anything. Yet.

"It is a creature that should not exist. An entity of the night. A dark but white assassin. He is called, the Slenderman." Loki looked grave.

Tony shook his head. "No, no. That can't possible be."

Loki tilted his head. "And why ever not? Sadly, he is as real as you and me."

"He is a myth! A bedtime story to make kids not wander off alone at night!" He should know. The only story his father had ever told him was the one about Slenderman. He got a kick out of seeing Tony run screaming whenever someone pale and in a black suit with a red tie came at him. There was even one time that he had thought that he had seen him watching one night. Tony had been coming back inside after finding his ball, when he had felt that something was watching him. He had turned around slowly. There, in the woods. Halfway behind a tree, was Slenderman. He had screamed and ran. He couldn't hear it, but he knew that it was following him. He knew that as soon as he looked behind him, he would beright there. But right as he felt a hand caressing his face, and his head was filling with static, his mother opened the door.

"Tony? What's wrong?" She had bent down and picked him up as he barreled into her arms, sobbing. "You're so pale and cold! Shh, it's alright, mommy's got you. Tony looked up one last time and saw... nothing. Slenderman was gone.

It was only when he had turned fifteen that he had made himself believe that there was no Slenderman. That it was just a bad dream. But to hear that it was supposed to be here with them. In these very woods. Close enough for them to hear it's hunting call. It was all he could do not to run screaming and brave the electric fence.

As if Steve could hear his thoughts, he wound an arm around his waist, squeezing him tightly.

"You've seen it haven't you?" Loki looked at him as if in wonder. "No one had ever lived to tell the tale of the Slenderman without dieing soon after. I wonder why, why he spared you. Because that's the only option. No one escapes the Slenderman without him wanting you to." Loki shook his head and took on a distant look. "It is said that Thanos had made him, but that is not the case. He has existed far longer than even the Allfather. Thanos had only woken him up."

"Well, whatever this thing actually is, we have to be on our guard. If anyone dies, then you're fired." Coulson walked up, checking the rounds of his gun. There had been no ammunition whatsoever. That didn't stop him from using the gun in some other, creative ways.

Tony almost laughed. Almost.

Now that Tony was looking a little better, (but was still shaking a bit) Steve spoke up. "If that thing is following us, then I suggest we get a move on. No use in standing around here out in the open and risking a bad case of Deaditis."

Tony looked up in surprise. "When did you start reading Harry Dresden?"

Steve gave him a sheepish grin. "When JARVIS told me that it was one of your favorite series." Tony's heart beat faster. Steve was so cute sometimes.

"Alright enough mush, let's go." Clint shoved his way pass the two lovebirds. He wouldn't say, but he was getting scared.

Coulson could see the signs. He rarely ever saw them. That was why he never (almost never) let Clint get away with faking it.

He walked up and stayed close. Lightly brushing his hand against Clint's. Clint looked over and offered a relieved smile. This was one of those times why he loved his handler so much.

Bruce and Natasha just shook their heads and kept on walking.

Loki tried to wriggle free once more. He was NOT a damsel in distress for Thor to rescue. Again.

"Brother, you must not move so much. Let me carry you until you are healed enough, alright?" Thor gave him the puppy dog eyes.

Damn. It was almost impossible to say no to those eyes. And even though he has said no before, he relents.

Thor beams down at him and continues on.

And off they go, weather they knew or not, toward the second page.

/

Find.

Lead.

Hunt.

Kill.

Slender watched the curious creatures from afar. Not yet to be seen.

He knew that the god had known that he was there.

What he had not known however, was that there was already someone there. Someone he had hunted and let go unharmed.

His pet.

He had wanted to find him again and claim what was his long ago, but Thanos had other plans. And in order for the titan to keep his false sense of security, he did as he was told. It was entertaining to see the titan preen over having such a powerful creature under his control. So, he put up with it.

But he was growing bored with all of the same thing, again, and again.

Kill this, kill that.

Maim her, maim him.

Boring. Boring. BORING!

But oh. His favorite catch. His one and only prized possession.

Anthony Edward Stark.

Left all alone on his little shelf of loneliness.

Time to take him out to play.

~TBC...


End file.
